Byron Hanspard

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Byron Hanspard

Date of birth:	January 23, 1976 (1976-01-23) (age 32)
Place of birth:	Dallas, Texas
Career information
Position(s):	RB
Height:	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight:	200 lb (91 kg)
Jersey №:	24
College:	Texas Tech
NFL Draft:	1997 / Round: 2, Pick 41
Organizations
As player:
1997, 1999	Atlanta Falcons

Byron Courtnay Hanspard, Sr. (born January 23, 1976 in Dallas, Texas) is a running back who played college football for the Texas Tech Red Raiders. He won the Doak Walker Award as the nation's top running back in 1996. He later played in the NFL.

[edit] College

In 1994, Hanspard recorded 761 yards rushing on 173 carries. In the following season, he had 1,374 yards on 248 carries. In 1996, he accumulated 2,084 yards rushing (and a total of 2,276 all-purpose yards). He was one of two running backs to rush for 2,000 yards that year, the other being Troy Davis. However, Hanspard edged out Davis for the Walker Award in part because he played on a winning team. Hanspard also finished sixth in the voting for the 1996 Heisman Trophy.

As of the end of the 2006 season, Hanspard is Texas Tech's all-time leader in career rushing yards (4,219 yards in three seasons) and rushing yards per game. He ranks second in career rushing attempts. He also holds school records for single-season rushing attempts (339 in 1996) and most yards in a single game (287 against Baylor in 1996--one of seven career 200-yard games). He also ranks second in career rushing attempts and is in a four-way tie for seventh in single-season and career touchdowns.^[1]

Hanspard announced shortly after the end of the 1996 season that he would give up his last year of eligibility and enter the 1997 NFL Draft. An ordained Pentecostal minister, he said that he felt the NFL gave him a better opportunity to expand his ministry.^[2] However, he later became the source of controversy after it emerged that he had all but abandoned his studies during what turned out to be his last year in school, posting a perfect 0.00 grade point average for the 1996 fall semester. In part because of this, Texas Tech withdrew from bowl consideration in 1997.^[3]

[edit] NFL

Hanspard was chosen in the second round by the Atlanta Falcons in the 1997 draft. He was used primarily as a kick returner in his rookie season, garnering 1,375 all-purpose yards, including 987 return yards. He also set a team record (since broken) for the longest run from scrimmage--a 77-yard burst against the Oakland Raiders. He suffered a severe knee injury during training camp in 1998 and missed the entire season. He returned in 1999, but was never quite the same. Despite increased playing time due to the loss of Jamal Anderson, he only gained 383 yards on 136 carries.

The Falcons cut him during training camp in 2000 after he lost a fumble in a preseason game. He signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but never played a down for them in three years.